A Goddess Left Alone
by Ai No Senshi
Summary: Serenity, Goddess of both the Earth and Moon, is overcome by sadness. But when she meets a mortal named Endymion, light breaks away her darkness. But how long with this candle of hope last? Can it burn forever? Or will the wick run out?
1. Chapter One

The world laid before her. All of it was strung out at her hands. She could do with it as she pleased. She could throw the stars from the sky, turn the summer cold, wash away the mountains with her tears. The world was gray and bleak and only she could give it color. Only she could return the blue to the sky, the grass to green, the sun to the golden orb it used to be. Of course, that's if she wanted the sun to rise at all.

She pushed the reflecting pool away, pushing the Earth and Moon out of her sight. She gazed around her dark room. She could make it light and happy with her will and a flick of her wrist. But she kept it dark like her soul, her thoughts, everything she was. She sat alone in utter silence.

Then she screamed.

No one heard her, nor felt the scream tremble and vibrate off the walls of existence. She wished for everyone to suffer as she did, to be alone and sad and angry. No one should have happiness if she could not bask in it herself.

Night was falling, at least she was letting it fall, and she left her realm. She sailed across the wind into the night pulling the crescent moon behind her. Then she sat upon it and looked down at her kingdom. Lights slowly went out in houses until it was only dark below her. She spied one pinprick of light floating like a ghost upon the wind. Who dared be up? This was her time on Earth.

She slipped off the Moon, her silvery hair flowing behind her, as she fell down, down, down to Earth. She landed in front of the light and she glowed like the Moon itself. The man holding the light took a step back upon seeing her. His face was illuminated silver, starlight shone in his eyes.

"Goddess," he said in a sharp whisper. His voice trembled. He failed to show her proper respect by bowing or kneeling, but she failed to notice.

Beauty. She thought it had ceased to exist, but here it was in front of her. With skin of ivory and hair of ebony, this man possessed what little beauty the world had left to offer. His eyes were dark pools of night and his lips slightly parted in surprise looked all too tempting. The goddess forced herself to turn away from him and she began to disappear back to her realm, back to her reflecting pool.

"Mortal, return to thy home," she said. "The night is mine."

She disappeared then and the man was left in wonder. She was luminescent. Her eyes were a pale blue and full of sadness. Her features were all soft and blurred by her aura. Her hair, long and silver, floated around her at all times. Her skin was like snow with rose tints in her lips and cheeks, and all of those features were immortal.

Gazing into her reflecting pool, the goddess watched the young man, Ebony as she had nicknamed him, go back to his home. She watched intently as she realized he was alone like her, all alone to face the wicked world she controlled.

A twinge of guilt panged in her heart. Had she caused Ebony sadness by making the skies gray? Had she placed a burden on his shoulders by making the fields barren? Was she responsible for him being alone? She wanted to change her ways for once, and maybe make the Earth a paradise so that she may see Ebony happy. But then he wouldn't be alone. Surely a mortal woman would find him, and love him, and marry him.

Never! The goddess could not stand the thought. But if he could not be happy alone, and she couldn't see him with anyone else, what was she to do? She wished him to be happy. She really did.

And then she knew the answer to her problem and his loneliness.

Author's Note: Short little beginning. More to come soon. I really hope you'll like this story. I very much liked writing it. Please review.

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi

revised


	2. Chapter Two

The next night as the Goddess sat on the Moon, she strained her eyes to find Ebony. She looked for a floating flame, but could find none. Finally, after realizing he had obeyed her, she let herself slide off the Moon and fall. She landed softly on the Earth and made her way towards his home. She slipped through his doorway without opening the door, and cast light out over his bed. There he slept, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

She dimmed her aura so as not to wake him and stepped closer to his bedside. She watched him, admiring mortal beauty. It was so fragile. If they lived too long they would break and they'd be gone, yet their bodies could be destroyed so easily. She wanted to save this beauty forever.

"Wake up, mortal man," she whispered softly. Ebony stirred and opened his eyes as if it were a great struggle. He blinked, then gazed up at her in shock.

"You honor me with your presence, Goddess," he said. He sat up on his bed, still looking at her, admiring her.

"Tell me, mortal, what is thy name?"

"It's Endymion, Goddess."

"And mine is Serenity, and so thou shall call me," she turned towards the door and beckoned him. "Walk with me, Endymion."

He hurried to change into clothes suitable for the outside, and followed her. But while she walked through the door, he had to go through the trouble of opening and closing it.

The night was cold, even the Goddess felt that. It brushed at her skin, caressing her with its northern touch. She brought her hand swiftly northwards from the south, and it was suddenly warmer. The wind had changed directions as she commanded it. Endymion felt feeble next to her, the power radiating from all of her essence. She could not help but glow.

They walked silently for awhile. The goddess never really walked actually, she floated swiftly along with him. He could not see because of her skirts, but he wondered if her feet ever really touched the ground. She would play with the Earth as they went along. An apple tree bent down and dropped an apple into her hand. She offered it to Endymion, but he declined. So she returned it to the tree, and it connected itself back to the branch.

"Tell me why you asked me to walk with you, Goddess."

"Ask not why ye are blessed, Endymion. Be content with the blessings thee receive for if thou dare question them, they may be stolen from thee. And you shall be left alone."

Endymion wished he had the power of the Goddess. He wished to pluck his question from the air and swallow it. He blushed with embarrassment.

"Where is thy family?" the Goddess questioned. A tree bowed down and she sat upon its branch. It sprung back up and welcomed her in.

"They are gone," Endymion said. He directed his voice up to her. "They died in a great fire."

"I remember," Serenity whispered. She kept her words from reaching his ears. She remembered the fire vividly. It had consumed a whole village, she watched it from her realm. Guilt dug deep into her heart. She had waited a long while before finally stopping the fire with rain. It was her fault. She caused his loneliness.

She recovered herself quickly. "I am truly sorry for thy grievances."

He shook memories from his mind. "That was long ago."

No, she thought. Only a blink of an eye compared to my life.

The tree bent back down and stepped off. She started walking again, towards the Moon. She was going to perch upon it to watch her Earth.

"Wait, Goddess." Endymion's voice rang out clear, slicing the night. She paused and closed her eyes. The inevitable question was coming. "What happens after one dies?"

She cleared her throat. She knew of other realms, and she knew of the spirit realm. It was divided in two: the good and the bad. She could find his parents for him, though she could not visit them. To enter the realm would be to give up her immortality. She could do no such thing as Guardian of the Earth and its satellite.

"I cannot tell thee. You will find out in your due time."

With that she pulled away to her realm and left him alone facing a very formidable opponent: his mortality.

Author's Note: Do you guys like it so far? I hope so. Won't update for quite awhile because I'm going on vacation at a place where there will be no access to computers. Which, really, won't be a bad thing. It's very relaxing there. Please review for me.

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi

revised


	3. Chapter Three

The Goddess Serenity devised a plan. She knew of Endymion's physical beauty, but she knew not of his spirit. So she set out one day, though the sunlight disgusted her, and took the form of a silver dove. She flew down to the Earth, carried by the wind. She glided over Endymion's head, watching him. He was alone again. It was a perfect time for he was heading home.

So she flew ahead of him on the road and laid down in the middle of what would be his path. She feigned a hurt wing, pulling a thorn from a nearby bush and shoving it into her feathers, then into her skin. It did hurt, she winced just a little, but she knew healing it would be nothing at all to her.

Endymion came over the hill, carrying a heavy load of groceries, and he stopped before the bird. He sat his pack down and knelt.

"What has happened to you, bird?" he asked, scooping her gently into his hands. He saw the thorn and shook his head. "We shall have to remove this thorn."

He threw his pack on his shoulders, and held the bird in his cupped hands. He continued home, speaking softly to the bird. He finally arrived, dropping his pack on the floor.

"Let us mend you, silver dove," he said. He sat the dove down on the table, then went to get a bandage. He came back and held the bird, which was surprisingly calm. In fact it seemed to be watching him nonstop. He cast his suspicions away and pulled the wing out gently. He used his thumb and index finger to grab hold of the thorn. He yanked it out quickly and the bird went mad from the sudden act.

Serenity yelped in pain. She shook her wing back and forth, cursing herself for setting up such a painful test.

"Calm down, dove, calm down!" Endymion said. He clutched her tightly, and the bird looked up at him. He could have sworn it was anger reflecting in its eyes, but you never knew. He wrapped the wing in a bandage and then let it go. "There. Now was it really worth all that?"

Serenity was surprised. He had helped the bird, so surely he was good in spirit, but still she wondered about him. She decided to stay and watch him all day as he performed his tasks. She did stay all day, and saw that he was very lonely. He even talked to her. Why she was so pleased when he did talk to her, she didn't know.

When night started to fall, she had to leave. She flew out the window, and Endymion looked stunned as she did. She flew up far enough so that he could not see her, then changed into her normal self. The bandages fell back to Earth and she started to pull the Moon into the sky. She sat on it again, and saw him come outside.

"Whom do you search for?" she whispered. Her words reached him on Earth.

"You, Serenity. Just where do you dwell?"

She focused her energy behind him and there she appeared. He spun and faced her.

"I am wherever I wish to be," she said to him. "Why do ye seek me out?"

Endymion shrugged. "I desire your company, that is all." He began what she supposed would be their nightly walk. There a was a tingle in her abdomen. What it could mean, she scarcely knew.

They walked on, chatting just about little things. He told her of the mysterious bird. She smiled. She had already known. She waited though, for the questions every mortal wanted to an answer to; answers she possessed but could not tell.

"Does thou know Serenity? Does thou know why we are put here?" he asked her.

Serenity shook her head. "Even I did not put thee here, but mortals have always existed. It is thy responsibility, I believe, to discover why you, and you alone, are here."

Endymion watched Serenity's magnificent hair shift back into place. She caught his gaze and he froze. Her eyes were of the ocean and now were softening slowly until they almost looked mortal. She studied him as much as he did her. His eyes were versions of the night sky, riddled with sorrow. His skin was as pale as hers, like the moonlight as it fell to Earth.

"I think, Serenity, that I," Endymion stumbled with his words as he got stuck in the pools of her eyes. "I-"

She pressed two fingers softly against his lips. "Do not tell me anything you think. Tell me just what you know and nothing more."

His eyes glanced down to her fingers, then back up to her eyes. He took the hand that she held at his lips and held it gently. He kissed the tips of her fingers, causing her cheeks to glow bright pink.

"I know, Serenity, that I-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You cannot." Her image flickered, then disappeared. He was left holding air.

He shouted at the sky, "You may run, Serenity, but I still lo-" The Goddess reappeared in front of him, pushing her palm hard against his mouth.

"You do not seem to understand what I am saying," she whispered. A diamond tear dripped from her eye. "You cannot. While you will grow old and fade away, I will always remain. When there is no world, still I will exist. So you cannot."

She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes to the brim. "I will miss thee, Endymion."

Then she was gone.

Author's Note: Well, crud. Review? Eh? Please? sigh

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi

revised


	4. Chapter Four

WARNING: Very short chapter. Very sorry. Do not hurt me. I ache already.

The Goddess stayed in her realm, paying very little attention to the Earth at all. She wept into her hands, her tears soaking the sheets of her bed. She curled herself into a tight ball, cursing her immortality, cursing her heart. She had known him for only three nights, still she found herself so wrapped up in his sorrowful eyes and his beautiful heart, she could not escape.

It was weeks, she knew not how many, before she finally pulled her reflecting pool back to herself. She was careful to stay away from Endymion, watching the rest of the Earth instead. On a whim, trying to make herself happy, she let the fields of wheat grow golden and strong. Farmers rejoiced as overnight their wheat doubled its worth. They would even have a surplus this year.

Endymion watched the Moon at night, wishing for someone to come from its light and see him. He remained alone, blaming himself for pushing her away. When he slept at night, he dreamed of the Goddess.

Three months since the last night he'd seen the Goddess, Endymion ran into mortal luck and fate. He was walking down the dirt road to his home on a thundering evening. His mind still remembered the day he had found the bird. He knew now that it had been the Goddess in disguise. He had held her and talked to her all day without knowing it. He kept an eye out now for a hurt dove.

Serenity pulled her reflecting pool into view and watched as a cart driver lost control of his mares who were frightened by lightening.

"Foolish, mortal. Can't you even keep control of your animals?" She scoffed as they went rampaging down the road. But as she looked ahead her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "No!"

She shoved the pool away and hurriedly went to the Earth. She flew as fast as the wind could take her down the road. The cart was in front of her, just right there. She could stop the animals if only she could reach them. But the cart kept going faster, and she heard the driver yell. The cart swerved, and tipped after running over a bump.

"No!" she screamed as she reached the spot where the carriage had driven off. She knelt down and began to weep. It was not a bump they had run over. It was Endymion.

"Serenity," he said. His eyes were going distant.

"No, no. This can't be happening." She held his head in her lap. "I tried so hard, Endymion, but now that fate has arrived I cannot stop it."

"I have to tell you," Endymion said. He coughed and blood came out on his hand. "I love you."

More tears spilled from Serenity's eyes. She pushed his hair away from his eyes, which were becoming cloudy. "Look at me, Endymion, stay with me." He looked at her, studied her face for a final time. His breath became more and more shallow. She leaned in close to him, until she could feel his last breaths. "I love thee, Endymion. I love thee." She kissed his lips, for the first time. Her tears mixed with his blood as she held him close. She looked into his eyes and he smiled at her.

Then he was gone.

Author's Note: No! STOP THROWING FRUIT! Wait a second! dodges rotten tomato Go get your Kleenexes, cry it out! I'm just the author, it's not like I have any control over the story!

Besides, who says it's over yet? Review please!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi

revised


	5. Chapter Five

Years passed. Hundreds of them. Serenity let the Earth do as it wished for once. She let her power over the Earth rest while she wept. She stayed in her realm and kept her reflecting pool far, far away from herself.

She cried almost continuously. Her tears fell down her cheeks, in slow, soft streams. With each drop she felt the slightest bit better, yet she knew it would take millions of tears for her to ever recover. At one time she thought of entering the realm of the spirits and finding him, but her duty as Goddess kept her away. She would merely live, and nothing more.

"Serenity, get out of bed now!" a commanding voice called. Serenity opened her eyes to see the fiery Goddess of Mars sitting by the reflecting pool.

"Why?" Serenity asked. "For what reason do I have to get up? My heart lays in pieces, my soul drowns in tears."

Raye shoved the reflecting pool to Serenity's side, angrily. "This is why! The Earth has gone mad, the Kingdom of the Moon has been destroyed. The Moon is only a rock now to reflect the Sun at night. The mortals on the Earth kill themselves, they kill each other! They burn and demolish! Look at it!"

Serenity looked and gasped. Tall gleaming structures stood tall, shrinking the sky. Smoke billowed from towers, polluting the air. Fires tore through forests; people fought in streets. Children cried all alone while starvation and disease ate away at the population.

"How did this happen?" she asked. "There are so many people everywhere! There's so much wrong!"

"It happened because no one was watching them! Keeping them in line! Now they are looking to come to my planet! Let me tell you I do not want them there!"

Serenity's tears renewed themselves, but for a different reason. The reflecting pool rippled as each drop hit the surface.

"I have to stop this," she said.

"And how do you plan to do that? It has gone too far now to be corrected. You can shake the buildings down, but the humans will rebuild. You can get rid of all the murderers, but even some people love them. Everything has consequences now. You cannot play with nature like you used to."

Serenity rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"Well, it is time you figured it out and took control of your planet." Flames burst up from the floor, and when they died down, Raye was gone.

That night, Serenity pulled the Moon into the sky for the first time in a very, very long time. She could not help but cry as she did so and it rained. The night was no longer dark. Lights glowed in various colors from every direction. As Serenity landed on the Earth, she could not even see her aura. She changed her appearance to blend with the crowd and felt strange. Her silver skirt was now short, her top was sleeveless, and all her clothes were tight.

Whistles came from different men, and every time they did, she could not help growing angry. A line of people were strung out down the sidewalk, waiting to go past a man and into a building. She joined them, not really knowing why, and when she finally came to the man, he blinked. He was rather large and he immediately pointed her inside.

"Thank ye," Serenity said as she headed inside. The man blinked again. She was quite unbelievable.

Inside there was music, or that's what Serenity guessed it was. A rainbow of lights bounced off mirrors and came from the floor and ceiling. She looked around in awe. People were in a mob on a glass floor, moving like a churning ocean. They were close together, swinging and bobbing with the beat of the music.

"What are they doing?" she asked a man who was standing behind a bar.

"Well," the man said, "I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's called dancing."

"Dancing," she repeated, letting the word settle in. "I like it."

She pushed into the mob of people and copied their movements. She moved her hips back and forth, swinging her behind to the rhythm. She let her hands rest on her bare stomach, and kept her eyes to the floor. She got lost in the music and lights. She got a new surge of energy she'd never felt before. It was just music. No problems, no powers, no Goddess of Mars yelling at her.

The world was wonderful for a moment.

Then the music stopped. A man started talking, the crowd yelled back at him. She supposed it was some sort of thing to get the crowd excited, but she'd lost the music and the beat. Her problems came rushing forward to swallow her again. She walked from the floor and looked at the people seated around the bar. Many were in groups, laughing and talking. One man sat alone.

"I can help him," she said to herself. She sat down beside him. "Hello."

He looked up at her. Her memories pushed at her mind, exploding like starlight behind her eyes. Her breath stopped; her heart raced. Tears formed in her eyes. She began to feel light-headed. It had been hundreds of years of heartache, yet here he was.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. His midnight eyes looked worried.

"Endymion," she breathed. "Endymion."

He laughed nervously. "Just how many drinks have you had?"

The bartender shook his head.

The replica of Endymion looked wide-eyed at the beautiful woman in front of him. Though something nagged at him that he'd met her before, he couldn't place her. "My name is Darien."

"And mine is Serenity," she said, recalling words from her past, "and so thou shall call me."

The words echoed through his mind, stirring memories out of their dust. Her voice did something to him. He felt happiness for no reason. Her sparkling ocean eyes made him want to kiss her. He hadn't even drank anything yet. What were these feelings?

"Walk with me, Endymion," she said. She stood up and he did also. He knew not why he was following her, but he did. If anything it was curiosity that moved him. Who was she? Where did she come from?

They walked down the street full of lights. She felt like she was floating. Her aura even started to show because her joy was spilling over. She wished to play with the Earth like she did that night, but she was shocked to find that she couldn't. She cringed at being so disconnected from nature.

"Why do you want to walk with me?" Darien asked. He started to remember this conversation, this night.

"Ask not why ye are blessed, Endymion. Be content with the blessings ye get for if thou dare question them, they may be stolen from thee. And you shall be left alone."

He looked at her with amazement. "I remember this."

Serenity pulled an apple from thin air.

"Serenity," he said, finding his memories and recognizing her. "Goddess."

"You left me alone," she wept. The apple disappeared.

He took her in his arms and her tears started soaking his shirt. "I'm sorry," he said into her hair. "I'm sorry."

"You can never leave me again. Never." She looked up at him. Her dress returned to what it had been at the time she'd met him. Flowing skirts sprang from her short one, her sleeves grew long and airy. "I love thee, Endymion; Darien."

"I love you, Serenity." He brought her chin up and put his lips to hers. His hands traveled up from her back into her hair. It was like silk through his fingers. She held him tight, her arms around his neck. A single, last tear fell from her eye and hit a crack in the sidewalk. And from it sprang a rose, a symbol of their love.

Forever.

_**Ten years later...**_

Out in the country, past the city and the suburbs, sat a large sprawling building. It had three floors. One for the kitchens, dining rooms, and lounges, a second for a school, and a third for bedrooms and private baths. Serenity stood in front of the main doorway, awaiting the arrival of all her new students. She had built this school with money from selling precious gems she had been able to create. Darien helped her run it, and find teachers.

A bus pulled up from the orphanage, while minivans and family cars came with their kids. While many times they kept orphans who had not been adopted, they also accepted kids from full families that were having troubles. They tracked down children who were sad or angry. Children who needed love. It was a large private school called Goddess Academy.

Serenity, now called Miss Serena by her students, had given up her beautiful silver dresses. Now she wore what mortals called "jeans" and a peasant blouse. She smiled warmly at all her students, and Darien stepped up to her side. From behind them came a pink-haired child, their daughter, who was half-goddess, half-human. She did not have immortality, but neither did Serenity anymore because she had found Darien's parents for him and gotten their blessing for her marriage to him.

"Welcome, all you new students!" she called. Some children gripped their bags or their parents, while others smiled. Their siblings had told them of Miss Serena's school. Everyone wanted to go to what the kids called fondly, "Goddess High."

The ones with parents waved and hugged good-bye, while orphans filed in alone. They would spend all the rest of their school years, up to the age of eighteen, here. They stayed all year, while kids with parents went home for the summer.

Serenity watched them all get acquainted and get room assignments. They walked the stairs, or took elevators, to the third floor. Darien squeezed her shoulders.

"It's another year," he said.

"Yes," Serenity said happily, "it is."

This was the ex-goddess's plan to help the Earth. The future started here with these children. If they were brought up to be polite and happy, then the future would be happy. It was a small thing, but it was all she could do. She could hope for them, wish for them. She could leave her child to run the school when she died. She would live and love.

For as long as she could.

Author's Note: Well, it's over now. Yes, I admit it. But I really enjoyed writing this. When I first started it, I didn't think it was going anywhere, but it did and I'm glad. Review for me, please!

Until the next time and the next story,

Ai No Senshi

(By the way, sorry it took forever for me to post the last chapter. It's been finished a long time, I just haven't posted it. Sorry, you have permission to throw rotten fruit or anything else.)

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